Nonfoods

LONDON/ZURICH - Associated British Foods Plc has agreed to buy Novartis AG's food and beverage business for 272.5 million euros ($267.2 million), including the drink brands Ovomaltime and Ovaltine, Reuters reports.

MINNEAPOLIS - Marigold Foods has recalled half-gallons of Kemps Premium chocolate chip ice cream due to the possible presence of ingredients not listed on carton labels.

As menopausal women turn away from hormone-replacement therapy, the market for herbal and other solutions grows.

SAN DIEGO - SureBeam Corporation on Tuesday said its processed fresh ground beef will be sold at Pathmark Supermarkets. Pathmark joins supermarkets such as Wegmans and Lowes Foods, who introduced irradiated beef products this year.

WASHINGTON - Officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration were scheduled to meet with consumer groups and food manufacturers on Monday to discuss the risk of acrylamide, a possible carcinogen found in many fried or baked starchy foods.

MATTHEWS, N.C. - Harris Teeter Inc. is going after the growing eat-at-home market with a new fresh-foods program led by a professional chef at select stores, the Charlotte Business Journal reports.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. - Warehouse-club chain Costco, based in Issaquah, Wash., has announced plans to build a 106,000-square-foot Costco Fresh store at a former Kmart in Bellevue, Wash., the Seattle Times reports.

SAN DIEGO - San Diego-based SureBeam Corporation announced on Tuesday that D'Agostino Supermarkets has become the first New York metropolitan area retailer to offer SureBeam processed fresh ground beef in its stores.